


Merging Paths

by GentleTouchGinger



Category: Soul Eater
Genre: Abuse, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, resbang 2014
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-08
Updated: 2014-12-08
Packaged: 2018-02-28 15:55:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 14,999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2738333
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GentleTouchGinger/pseuds/GentleTouchGinger
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a nation ruled by the ruthless StarClan, Tsubaki Nakatsukasa loses everything the night they make her home their next target. She is captured and forced to become the weapon of their prince, Black Star. Everything about him disgusts her, but her options are few. She must work with him, because she is the only one who can calm the demon inside of him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Foreword and Acknowledgements

My art can be found [here](http://gingerthesnap.tumblr.com/post/104693147954/jaokolad-my-resbang-art-for-gingersnaps). 

Acknowledgments (you don’t have to read all of these, but the foreword is at the end so skip to that)

First off, thanks to the Resbang mods for organizing this event. I never would’ve sat down and written this without their motivation. ^-^

Secondly, I’d like to thank ilaural, because she was the one who introduced me to this fandom. She’s such a sweetie, and she’s crazy talented. Go and check out her Resbang.

I’d also like to thank raining-down-hearts, for being super supportive throughout my writing process and encouraging me to sign up. Another crazy talented sweetheart. <3 Go read her stuff. All of it.

Huge thanks to zxanthe, who actually wrote [the first version of this story](http://zxanthe.tumblr.com/post/85058902708/for-power-and-glory). It’s amazing, go and read it after.

Monkkeyslut, too. Her fanfiction inspired me to do something for the tiny little Tsustar fandom, and she’s a huge inspiration for me. This doesn’t compare to anything she’s written, but I hope it’ll bring some feels.

Thanks to all my friends who listened to me rant about this event even though they had no clue what it was. (*cough* Kate, Danny, Ginny, Cheyenne, etc *cough*)

COLOSSAL THANKS TO MY BETA, Louise/paintedpetrichor. She is a literal queen, I love her to pieces and this would’ve sucked without her. She’s so talented, hardworking, kind, and perfect. She let me bounce ideas off her, helped me figure out a ton of plot stuff, and all around is a perfect human being. Thank you so much, Louise. Really, you’re so amazing… The best lines in here are probably the ones she rewrote for me. Our friendship is probably the best thing that came out of the production of this fic.

Another huuuge thanks to my epic artist, jaokolad. Her art is so beautiful, it’s been my lockscreen for weeks. I used her playlist to write the last scene, and it actually made me get into Alternative Rock… seriously, though, Jao stayed up until midnight to get her claim for me in and she’s been so supportive and kind and she’s amazing. *hug*

I’m sneaking Greet in here because I love her so much she’s my amazing Kohai and supports me everyday by being there.

also THANKS TO THE LIKE THREE PEOPLE ON TUMBLR THAT HAVE BEEN EXCITED FOR THIS FIC….maybe there’s more...i dunno. you know who you are….and I know as well O_o I hope you like this! Soul and Maka don’t appear once. yep. also don’t be afraid to send me prompts...please send me prompts based on this story that’d be the best thing ever pleeeease do it

a minor f*** you to my math teacher...yeah...get a life besides screwing up people’s grades and gpa’s and making me cry in your class and out of it. i dont care that you ended up curving it before interims, i do not like you.

And last, but not least, thanks to you, if you’re settling down to read this. A lot of hard work, coffee, confusion and constant apologies went into this fanfiction. I’m so excited to share it with all of you. I’m really, really sorry for what I did to Tsubaki, okay….just know that… and enjoy! ^-^ im gonna stick the foreword at the end of this so you’re forced to read it to understand mwahahaha

see look I did it look below that break

* * *

_In a land abandoned by the Shinigami, a dark clan rules. Swollen with greed, they conquer and destroy everything in their path. They take what they wish and devour anyone who opposes them. To fight back is suicide. Slowly, yet steadily, they are taking over everything. The Natsukasas are one of the last clans left still fighting. Their children have been raised in nervous freedom, yet fear the day the StarClan will come for them, as well._


	2. Chapter 1

His hand is sweaty in hers as he pulls her out of their room; his long, slender fingers shaking as they wipe his eyes hurriedly. He hopes she won’t see, but she does, and she knows what it means, too.

He leaves the bird feathers on his nightstand, the ones they’d spent all summer collecting. He leaves the ancient family books on different weapon forms, the branch from the sacred pines, and their grandfather’s ashes.

The only thing he doesn’t leave is her; the only thing he seems to notice is her.

She is the one who screams at falling beams, who pulls him back when a path is blocked by fire. She is the one who asks about their parents, the one who is jerked away from the door to their bedroom overflowing with heat and flame.

She vomits on the grass where they played ball; she stares at the fragmenting, blackening fuel that used to be their home.

The mountains line the scene nicely, the gray husk of dawn hazing over the forests and welcoming the thick smoke. The birds chirp prettily and the flowers nod in the breeze, waiting for the sun.

“We have to go,” he whispers. “Tsubaki, we have to go.” He takes her wrist, yanking her to her feet. “They’re coming back. You know they won’t be satisfied with just our home. They’ll want us, too.”

She nods, standing up. “Yes,” she replies hoarsely. “Yes, we’ll have to run.” She turns back to look at the house. “The others? Our family? Where are they?”

“I don’t know,” he answers.

“How did this happen? We had lookouts, we had guards! We knew they were coming! How is no one here but us?!” she screams shrilly.

“Calm down,” he murmurs. “They might have fled just like we did. They might be in the woods. We just have to worry about ourselves.”

A laugh splits through the morning. Its haunting, terrible continuity sendsa panic tearing up inside her, and she swallows a whimper.

Her brother starts to run, dragging her along through the underbrush. They’re making too much noise. but her throat is too clogged with sad thoughts to say anything out loud.

“Nakatsukasa, Nakatsukasa, I’m going to find you.” The voice seems to be part of the woods, omnipresent and impossible to escape from. Its tone is teasing, and mockingly gentle. “Just come to us, before we have to light up these woods too and smoke you out.”

Tsubaki grabs a tree branch and yanks her brother back. “They’re going to find us!” she hisses fiercely, “No matter how fast we run! They’ll find us! What are we going to do?”

Masamune stares at her, various emotions drifting across his face. Determination decides to take over. “We’ll have to fight them.”

She pulls her wrist out of his grip. “What do you mean?!”

“Tsubaki, transform.”

“We can’t win!”

He seizes her shoulders, shoving her up against a tree. “Would you rather die fleeing like rabbits, or fighting for our lives?!” he roars.

“They’ll hear us!” she whispers, wriggling out of his grip. “Brother, come on. Maybe if we hide our tracks by walking through streams or through the trees, we can escape. We have to try. Fighting back is suicide!”

Leaves crunch nearby, and she pulls him against the ground, taking his hand in hers to keep him still. “B-brother,” Her voice is barely more than a breath. “What will they do to us?”

His hand is limp in hers, and he doesn’t answer, staring straight ahead into the underbrush as the footsteps draw closer.

* * *

The chains are cold and heavy, and she is dragged backwards, kicking and shaking. Her long ponytail is seized harshly and yanked. Flailing, she cries out, staring at her captors with fury.

She immediately knows who the leader is when he falls into her line of vision. The star on his shoulder is distorted by muscle, the bandana covering his mouth is stained with blood, and his white hair looks golden in the light of the rising sun.

The one she heard so many horrible stories about, stories much terrible to be true.

WhiteStar.

“Well, what did we catch?” he leers, lifting her chin up and glancing down at the rest of her. “A little girl. Lost in the woods, sweetheart?”

His face is close enough for her to smell the blood in his breath. Too close, she thinks, so she lunges. Her teeth sink into the tip of his nose and she pulls at his flesh, trying to do as much damage as she can.

He jumps back in surprise, shaking her off. He then regains his senses and slaps her, lifting her off the ground by her throat and pinning her against a tree.

“No more tricks, you little bitch,” he snaps. “Tell me. Which one are you?”

“Tsu…baki,” she chokes, squirming weakly in his grip. “Seven…seventeen. W…weapon.”

The mad, hungry glint in his eyes twists her insides like churning butter. He drops her and she scuttles backwards, but he kicks her in the gut before she can get away. The pain stuns her in place.

“What can you do?” he snarls, kneeling beside her and gripping her wrist so tightly, she fears the bones will shatter. One jerk would crack her entire arm in half, and her trembling intensifies despite efforts to calm it. “Weapon forms! Which ones are yours?”

“Ninja Sword,” she answers quickly. (It isn’t a lie, exactly.) “Just ninja sword.” (And there’s the lie.)

He pulls his bandana down so she can see the wide grin spreading across his face. His teeth are pointy and sharp. Blood from his nose drips down, landing on his lip. He licks it off hungrily.

Every part of her wants to scream. This is the face she has always feared, the face that kept her up at night and pushed her to work harder in training.

“Well, I guess we’ll just throw you in the flames,” he whispers tauntingly, “’cause I heard of another Tsubaki Nakatsukasa; one that carries within her nearly all the forms of her clan. See, she’d be useful to us, but one that’s just a Ninja Sword…hmm, it’d be more fun to burn her alive.”

She shoots him a furious glare, fighting the urge to shrink away in fear. “You know who I am,” she seethes, her expression as dark and fierce as she can muster, “and I am at your mercy. Do as your rotten heart wishes.”

He lifts her up into a sitting position, and she shudders at his touch. He kneels in front of her, sneering a bit before standing up. Disgust jolts through her as he kisses the top of her head, placing his hands on her shoulders before calling to the others.

“We’re taking this one! Load her into the wagon! Now, show me the other one, the boy!”

When he releases her, shoving her to the the dusty ground, she coughs out a breath she had forgotten she was holding.

As she is dragged backwards, she sees her brother in chains. She calls out to him, but the sound is lost as she’s thrown into the back of a wagon. She fights, more weakly now, but then her head is slammed against something hard.

It only takes a few seconds for the world to cave in and her mind to go blank.

* * *

She wakes in the wagon, her body sore from lying on hard wood. Her eyes flutter open slowly, and she finds herself staring into the eyes of her brother.

“Masamune!” she cries, “Are you alright?”

He nods blankly, his gaze slipping from hers.

She waits for him to speak, to say something useless yet comforting to her, but he doesn’t.

“Do you…do you know where we’re going?” she asks him. The wagon hits a bump and she bites her tongue, pain and coppery blood flooding her mouth.

He shakes his head.

Fear starts to grow inside her; real, true fear, like a spider slowly, meticulously spinning its web. How can he be so silent in the face of an enemy he constantly cursed at the dinner table, one he trained so hard to defend himself -and her- from?

She squirms uncomfortably in her bonds. It’s so hot, so unbearably hot. Sweat rolls down her back like raindrops on a window, and her throat aches sharply for water. Her hair clings to the back of her neck, and the pulsing, roaring desire to scream rises inside her, but she swallows it. She is better than this, she is so much better than her captors.

“How long?” It comes out as a strangled whisper, the rest of her voice hiding in her throat.

“Hours,” he answers hoarsely. “Too many hours, Tsubaki. And hours still until we get there.”

She chews her dry, crusting lip, running her bleeding tongue over it. “What will happen? To us…what will happen after?”

He stares at her, his once blank eyes now red-rimmed and swelling with emotion. “You think I know? You think I have the slightest clue? Tsubaki…I failed.” He spits the last word out, like a splash of venom he couldn’t carry inside him anymore. “I fucking failed you, and everyone else. It doesn’t matter what happens to us after.”

She doesn’t answer. Any comfort would be meaningless, she’s sure, because his words are true. They failed, and now their fate isn’t theirs to control anymore.

He had been right all along, she can see that now. Fighting back, and dying in the process, would have been so much kinder, so much easier than this.

The wagon jolts to a sudden stop, throwing her against its side and smashing her head against the wood.

The men pull Masamune out by his ankles, flinging him onto the road. Tsubaki cries for him. Animals destined for slaughter are treated better than this.

He kneels in the dirt, dry, whitish clay bleaching his knees.

One of them starts to drag him away, while the other pounds on the wagon, calling to the driver. She’s moving again.

She starts to thrash, screaming for her brother. It’s too soon, much too soon; they aren’t at the StarClan’s home yet. This isn’t supposed to happen, they are supposed to stay together. They are supposed to stay together; that’s all she wanted, all she asked for.

Nothing slows, nothing changes; he is only walked into a building and out of her sight. She screams louder, no longer caring that it hurts her throat. She screams his name, she screams curses, she begs for him to come back. She trembles and screams but tears don’t come.

The wagon moves on.


	3. Chapter 2

They give her a cot, at least. It’s stiff and hard, and the blankets are moth-eaten sheets from the palace all sewn together, but it’s something. The cell has a rock floor, walls, and ceiling. There’s a tiny window, too high for her to see out of unless she stands tip-toe on the bed. When she does, all that’s visible is grass and, in the distance, the shrubbery of the palace gardens.

It is as cold as one expects an underground room to be. Strange runes carved over the door make it impossible for her to transform. Mice scuttle through cracks in the walls, and big, black bugs crawl on the ceiling.

She tries to escape. She runs her hands along the walls and peeks through the mouseholes, she tugs at the bars until her hands are red and aching. She shoves her shoulder against the door until it feels broken; she tries to transform until her soul aches as well.

Shouts echo down the hallway; the footsteps grow closer and she freezes, pressing against the back wall of the cell. It’s been hours since they left her here and days since she’d seen her brother, slept, or eaten.

“The girl’s in ‘ere,” someone calls crudely. “Oi! Lil’ weapon...Na-whatever, thing. We’ve ‘ot food for ya’!”

The door inches open and the voice seeps into the cell. Its owner is short and stocky, though quite muscular. His face is shiny, but worn; his matted black hair lies in greasy clumps. Eerie blue eyes fly straight to her chest, before sliding down the rest of her.

The other one, skin blacker than the darkest ebony, sets a basket down on the floor. “Food’s in there,” he says. “Someone’ll come tomorrow for you. Plans have changed, sweetie. You’re to start training with your master as soon as ya’ can. Your brother’s been causing alotta trouble.”

She looks slowly meets his eyes, still pressed against the cold wall. She can’t find the means to speak, the questions building up inside of her swelling into a lump in her throat.

“Ha! She didn’t ‘ave a clue!” The disgusting one takes a step closer to her, trailing his fingers along her cheek. “Don’t worry, princess. It ain’t nothin’ too serious. He just went bonkers, wouldn’t let Lord WhiteStar touch ‘em, and when they tried to punish ‘im, he snapped. Killed some soldiers at tha’ base, ran off into the woods. Then he found a village, now ooh, the story ain’t pretty from there.”

She can’t turn away from his foul touch, can’t tell him he’s wrong, he’s wrong- Masamune would...would...wouldn’t kill.

_He drives his hand, now a sword tip, into the table. Plates and glasses clang, the sound jerking her head up to look at him._

_“I’ll kill them,” he seethes. “Every last one of ‘em. They can’t destroy cities on a whim! No one should have that power, no human should! Refugees pouring into our lands-”_

_“Masamune,” her father interrupts sternly, “this isn’t an appropriate topic for the dinner table.”_

_“When’s a better time?” he snaps in return. “Tonight? The day before they overtake us? The hour before they bind us in chains and turn us into slaves?! This is a war! One of us can’t live, and if we just keep sitting here, they’ll end up as the victors! The only option is their destruction!”_

Tsubaki holds his gaze for another moment, then shoves him backwards with one direct, strong shove. “That’s wrong,” she snarls, the lie slicing through her like a knife. “You’re wrong.”

He regains his footing, laughing. “Well, alrighty then, dearie. Think whatcha’ want.”

They resume their chit-chat as the door slams shut, sending the ceiling bugs scattering in terror.

She sits on the floor and takes the basket into her lap. Her nails digging into the seams of the wood. She closes her eyes and tries to lift her dread up into her chest, but can’t. The weight is too much.

To distract herself, she looks into the basket. There’s a few bread rolls, dried fruit, and a waterskin inside. She looks away from the basket, taunted by the smell. She can’t eat it, of course. That would be...long-term planning, as if she wouldn’t escape in a few days anyway. It could be laced with drugs or strange herbs designed to weaken her or keep her here, and it’s probably stolen food. She could never…

She remembers the thin skin of calm masking the whirlwind of fury Masamune felt inside. When a mouse skitters along the floor, she doesn’t shoo it back into its hole.

She takes a bite of bread.

* * *

 

She is beautiful.

WhiteStar told him about her that morning. She goes by Tsubaki;, she has many different modes. She is cunning and fiery and terrified, but he must make her listen. She is the only one who knows her brother; the only one who can destroy him.

“Tsubaki.”

She turns, black hair swishing through the air. Her eyes are wide and blue, and her demeanor petite and careful. She stands as if brushing the wall or stepping too hard could cause the room to explode.

There is something about her, perhaps the way she holds her delicate fingers, that reminds him of fabric; long, finely stitched, gorgeous gowns that seamstresses slave over, to be only worn once. Her expression is tight and guarded, and the cot they left for her to sleep on is unwrinkled.

“I am the Great Assassin BlackStar, and I will be wielding you. Be grateful for the opportunity to fight alongside such a man. Now bow before me.”

Her expression is somehow both empty and furious as she sinks to her knees, her nose and hair brushing the floor.

“Now follow; I’m going to test out your abilities. If you disobey, I have no qualms with harming you. Your family will cause us no more trouble.”

He turns and marches out of the room, whipping his head back to make sure she is following him. She is, of course, but her gaze is on the floor and her steps are small and quiet.

“You know why you are here, right?” he asks. “To fix the mess your brother left us in?”

“Yes, I do,” she replies softly. “I’m here to assist you in finding and killing my brother.”

There is spite in her tone, and he doesn’t like it. “Do you know what he has done? He killed innocents. He’s no longer your brother. Nakatsukasa is no longer your name. You are ours now, mine; a weapon of the StarClan. You will fight and die for us. You will do so with grace and honor.”

He stops in front of a door. “Transform.”

She is standing, tall now, her feet spread in a battle stance. “I am not yours; I am not StarClan!”

A growl rises in his throat and he lunges for her, but she dodges. She lashes out at him with her leg, kicking him hard in the stomach.

“No!” she shrieks, “No, no, no!” She raises her hand to strike him.

He catches her wrist and shoves her backwards, his other arm against her throat. He has her pinned against the wall and she is gasping for breath, but her eyes still have that look of clouded fury.

“Tsubaki, huh?” he snarls, twirling her hair around his finger. “It means ‘Camellia’, right? I think we have a bush in the garden. Such pathetic little blossoms. They fall to pieces whenever you pick them, and they don’t even have a pretty smell. Barely a flower, in my opinion.”

He presses into her throat. “Your brother’s mistake was a grave one. He defied us, and now we will destroy him. And you have no choice but to help us. I am not going to let you soil our family’s name further. If you step out of line, I will drive the Nakatsukasa family to extinction. You’ll be the last member; a lone blossom.”

He hears her gasping for breath but ignores her. She has disobeyed him, and there is no excuse. He feels no pity for her.

“I would never let you harm my family!” she snarls, twisting against his hold.

“You think a measly weapon can make a difference compared to the might of the StarClan?”

She doesn’t reply, she only snarls at him. Her gaze is furious, but she is limp against the wall.

“Now I thought I told you,” he growls, his eyes darkening, “to transform”


	4. Chapter 3

She follows him up the steep mountain path, stepping carefully over rocks and roots in her way. He doesn’t tell her where they’re going or what they’re doing, and she’s too afraid to ask.

They reach a clearing, and he gestures for her to stop. Then, he orders her to transform.

She does, shifting in a flash of light into a short sword that lands in his hands. A wave of sharp, prickly rage sweeps into her soul, nearly smothering her. She realizes with a shudder that it’s his soul.

Fearing she’ll be unable to stay in his hand, she reaches gently out for it, trying to calm him down enough for her to match their wavelengths. His anger only grows, and he grips her more tightly.

“Stop that,” he snarls, “Stay away from my soul.”

She draws back a bit. “But I need to match our wavelengths-“

“You need to stay still and quiet!” BlackStar barks at her. “Just sit and do as I say.”

It’s useless. He knows nothing of resonance or the true power she holds within her; the power that could be his if he would just listen. Which is good, she realizes. He doesn’t deserve to wield her truest form.

“Yes sir,” she says quietly, moving as far away from his soul as she could.

His gaze sweeps around the clearing, and the attack is so quick and sudden, Tsubaki only knows it’s happening because of his sudden swerve. He raises her and deflects the blow easily, skidding back a few feet.

Their opponents are many in number, but their weapons are plain and their stances are sloppy. She knows what will happen, and dread sweeps through her. He notices.

“Scared?” he sneers. “Are you scared of them?”

“No, sir,” she answers quietly.

“I want the two scythes,” he snaps, widening his stance. “I’ll finish this quickly.”

She switches, wanting with all her might to tell them to run. There’s no way they could ever defeat BlackStar. She doesn’t want to see any more destruction; it’s only just started and she doesn’t want to do this anymore.

Horror oozes through her as she sinks into one of their stomachs. She can feel the coils of his intestines slicing open, feel the warmth of his blood slipping past her and out into the cold, mountain air.

Her scream joins his as BlackStar licks blood off her blades. In the next moment, he slices at another, countering blows and cutting flesh like a crazed machine. They keep fighting, blocking and striking.

“Fuck you, StarClan!” one curses as he lunges at BlackStar. “This is what you get for spreading destruction! For killing and enslaving innocent people, you arrogant-“ His voice breaks off as BlackStar slices through his throat.

In a matter of minutes, a dozen men have turned to one.

The last man examines the two of them, eyeing BlackStar and then her. She squeezes her eyes shut, turning away. She doesn’t want to kill him. She doesn’t want anyone else to die.

“Wait!” the man calls. “Weapon, you’re a Nakatsukasa, aren’t you? I recognize your form! It’s the same as your father’s.”

Everything inside her seems to stop.

She appears in the blade, arms fold over her chest. “You know my…my father?”

Pain shocks through her like lightning, vaulting and spiking through every inch of her. She screams, sliding out of her weapon form and into her human one. She falls out of BlackStar’s hold and onto the ground. She breathes heavily, relaxing as the pain subsides.

The next thing that she knows is a pressing force on her stomach, the stunning, sharp pain enough to bring tears to her eyes.

BlackStar’s face is close to hers, his breath warm and foul. “What made you think,” he hisses, “that you could engage in conversation with our opponent?”

“He asked me a question,” she murmurs, “and I answered. It wouldn’t have been polite-“

He jabs his knees into her chest, a feral snarl tearing from his throat.

“I don’t care. He’s just another soul.” He climbs off her, grabbing her wrist and pulling her up.

“Oh, fuck. Look what you’ve done.”

She turns back towards the man, but nothing is there.

“This is all your fucking fault,” he growls. “Transform.”

“Which form?” she asks quietly,

“I want the sword,” he snaps. “Now, transform!”

She obeys, flinching as she encounters his soul once more. It’s tainted with greed, storming with anger, overflowing with power. She wonders how one boy can hold it all in.

He runs through the forest, using her to slash through the underbrush. She sneaks a tendril of calm into his soul, wrapping it into him to lessen his fury. It pulses as if it’ll consume the two of them any second.

She can tell he notices by the surprise flashing through his soul, but he doesn’t say anything about it. She sneaks another one, drawing him closer and shoving her disgust away.

“Ha!” His boastful, excited call rips through the morning. “Found ya’!”

Tsubaki hurriedly slips away from his soul and to the edge of the blade so she can see the man.

He’s cornered in front of them, pressed against the trunk of a tree. It’s an oak, the same type she called “tiptoe oaks” when she was little because she thought they stretched on tiptoe to reach the sky.

“No, no, no,” the man begs. “Please, please, don’t. I’ll go away, you’ll never see me again, I’ll never cause trouble. I won’t tell her father she’s here…”

BlackStar steps lazily forward, ignoring his pleas. “Precious soul…” he hisses.

Tsubaki flinches away from the wave of desire that engulfs him, squeezing her eyes shut.

“Please, Nakatsukasa, you can’t let him, I don’t want to die, I don’t want to-“

She can feel his heartbeat against her blade, rapidly beating and pulsing, begging her to just leave him alone.

“BlackStar,” she calls nervously, ”there’s plenty of souls back at the clearing. Aren’t...aren’t they enough?”

Fury slices through the greed. “Shut up!” he screeches. “You useless hunk of metal- just shut up!”

He throws her aside, and she shifts into human form just long enough to see BlackStar reach into the man’s chest and rip his soul out with his bare hands. He swallows it fervently as the man’s corpse fades away.

He turns to her and she scurries away, crying out at the look he gives her. She didn’t know such fury existed, and it’s directed at her and oh she wants to go home.

“You,” he seethes, “had one job, just one; sit quietly while I destroyed the enemy- and you couldn’t even do that. You don’t have to ‘“match our wavelengths”’, you don’t have to protect me or fight; the only reason you’re here and alive is so you can sit still, in my hand. If you can’t do that, you’re a useless, pathetic, waste of my time.” He is close to her now, standing above her. He kicks her backwards, and she tumbles across the ground, biting her lip so she doesn’t scream in pain.

“You aren’t going to see your family again,” he snarls. “You aren’t going to win. We’ll find your father, and we’ll either make him ours or devour his soul.”

He lifts her into the air by her throat, squeezing it painfully. She coughs, flailing in his grip.

“And if you don’t obey,” he throws her to the ground, and she can’t hold her scream in anymore. “I’ll devour you.”

He turns, stepping on her fingers as he walks back towards the clearing. “Keep up, “ he growls.

She closes her eyes and pushes herself to her feet, cradling her throbbing hand. His back is turned, and the desire to attack him surges through her. If she moves quick enough…maybe she can hurt him badly enough for her to get away. There’s a chance her father is still alive, if she can run from here and get to him, together they might be able to get her brother back.

The idea of seeing her brother again sends waves of comfort through her. Even if it is just one time, seeing his face or hearing his voice, she feels it would be enough.

She stares at BlackStar, defenseless due to his own arrogance (because no meager weapon would dare to touch the Great Prince of the StarClan). Her eyes dart to the slope of his neck, where if she could just sink a blade a few inches in, there’d be no coming back.

Tsubaki transforms her hand, light flashing into a short, sharp blade. All she needs to do is lunge…

Up close, his hair looks soft, like kitten fur or downy feathers. The color looks less harsh, a gentle shade of sky blue. She’s just one stab away from freedom, one stab away from a ticket out of this hellish place.

But her blade trembles, and with cruel disappointment rising up in her, she transforms it back into a hand. She looks at the ground. It’s a blind hope. Even if she did strike him, the StarClan would pursue her until the day she died. It would just mean more death, more destruction, more homes destroyed and families ripped to shreds.

She tries to set her hopes down softly, but instead they plummet painfully to the ground, sending dread shooting through her. “I’m c-coming,” she calls softly.

It was a long shot, anyway.

* * *

Sometimes they forget to feed her. She never brings it up to BlackStar. She isn't sure he'd do anything, even if he knew.

She deals with it. The brewing hunger, the fingers unable to clench into fists. She hates this, she hates relying on him and his family. She hates the knife pressed against her throat.

He never comes to fetch her from her cell. It's always a guard, a guard who's too rough and whose hands wander.

Part of her wonders if he knows. Does he understand she is treated as a prisoner here?

She stands back, watching as he shoves his mouth full of souls. Human souls, a whole village of them. The screams were horrifying, their terror nearly overwhelming her.

She is used to it, though. She is used to it.

She sits on the ground, waiting. She watches him, wincing at his streak of wildness and cruelty that's swollen out of control. His soul is a large, loud, terrifyingly powerful presence. She cannot help him when he is like this. When the demon inside of him is taking over, gobbling everything it touches.

Spit sloshes out of his mouth, and disgust rises in her. It begins to conquer her, until even the memory of his touch terrifies her to her core. She stumbles backwards.

Even though she hasn't eaten in a day, the roaring appetite inside of her is calmed by the sickening sight in front of her. Those were people; he's eating people, and he's no different than the rest of his clan. She should have killed him, he's a monster. A true monster.

She stands, and somehow he hears her. She freezes as he turns. His pupils are stars, and drool dribbles down his chin.

His eyes contain no warmth. She feels icy fear drizzle through her. He isn't human anymore.

He steps towards her, his mouth curling into a grin. "Pretty...delicious soul..."

She backs away, a sword appearing in her hand. She doesn't care if she dies anymore. He won't take her soul, he won't devour it like he did the others. She won't be a part of him. She'll never be a part of him.

He lunges, the stars in his pupils flashing angrily. "Soul..." he grumbles.

She jumps out of the way, putting the reflexes she inherited from her father to good use. "I'm your weapon!" she shrieks. "Don't you remember?"

She wants to thinks he'd regret it, if he woke up and she was gone. But despite all her studies of the soul, despite everything she knows to be true about him, she just doesn't know. She just doesn't know if he cares about her. She doesn't even know if she cares about him.

However, she knows that she still does not want to die today.

He seizes her wrist but she twists free, slashing at him with her sword.

"BlackStar!" she shrieks. "Stop it! You need me, right?"

He doesn't hear her. He growls and lunges for her again, but she is running now. She is running for the treeline, scrambling up a pine and pressing against the bark. She doesn't give a damn about the sap on her fingers, or the pine needles caught in her hair. All she cares about is his quickly approaching footsteps.

They're sloppy, and confused, breaking twigs and crunching leaves. She knows he can move silently through the trees, but the ability is lost in his hunger.

"Who...who are you?"

Tsubaki jumps, turning to look for the sound of the voice. She locates it quickly, and breathes a sigh of relief. A young boy, maybe eleven or twelve, is crouched in the branches just above her.

"Was that your village?" she asks cautiously, remaining frozen against the tree trunk.

"Yes," he whispers back. He shifts so she can see his face, and she sees blood smeared with dirt on his cheeks. Sympathy courses through her.

"I'm..." She has no clue how to answer. What is she, even? A slave of the StarClan? A weapon? A member of the Nakatsukasas? "Tsubaki."

"Are you with him?" the boy whispers fearfully. "I m-mean....you c-couldn't b-be...but..."

"Yes," she whispers in reply. She hates the disgust erupting on his face. "I-I'm his weapon."

"Do you wanna be?" he murmurs, wary and horrified.

She shakes her head. "I was stolen from my home. He tried to e-eat my soul...so I ran..."

BlackStar's footsteps grow quieter as he crashes through the forest in crazed hunger.

The boy moves down to sit besides her. They are silent for several long moments.

"Is my village dead?"

She wants to answer no. She wants to answer "of course not" and sweep him into her arms and help him down the tree. More than anything in the world, she wants to take him back to his family's welcoming arms. She wants to stay with these people, these wonderful people motivated by love rather than hate. She wants BlackStar to apologize for everything he and his family did and she wants to go home. She wants to go home so much it aches, and tears almost overwhelm her. Though they burn in her eyes, they don't fall.

"Yes," she replies, and his strangled sob echoes through the forest.

There's no home for her but the StarClan now.


	5. Chapter 4

Before him, her weapon form was a safe haven. Before him, fights were fun. She flicked through her forms like a dancer, she opened her eyes wide when an enemy’s sword struck hers so she could see her reflection on the metal.

Now it is a place to be careful. A place to be afraid and hide her disgust because she is an open book. There is no boundary between his soul and hers. The worst part is when they mix. When she is led back to her cell and she feels his fury coursing through her like a disease. She must sit and stay calm and forget his foul presence.

She knows she sticks to him, too. He is a bit gentler, his grip still firm, but softer. He still hits her, but only when she messes up. When he's with her, his fury at the land and the people his family does not control seems to lessen.

He yanks her back, glaring furiously ahead at their target.

"Hit him from the side," Tsubaki whispers. "Use my ninja sword. It would work best, sir."

"Fine, switch," he agrees snappily, and she does so in a flash of light.

He charges at the man, who sneers in fury and raises his guard.

As she whisks towards his side, he counters. The full, thick pain and the strength of the hit knocks her out of her senses. BlackStar is pushed back and before she knows it she is human, painfully striking the dirt.

Her soul shudders away from BlackStar's as rage begins to conquer it.

She hears him charge towards the fleeing man, and she lies weakly on the ground, panting. She sits up, wincing.

Her stomach feels as if it was hit by a truck. She gasps as she shifts it, staring up at BlackStar.

He looks furiously down at her. "Dick can run," he hisses.

She closes her eyes and shies away. "I'm sorry," she whispers. "I didn't know."

She knows he's going to hurt her. She feels it in his soul, sees it in his eyes and the way his footsteps are careful. He kneels besides her, and despite her bravest instincts she turns away. She shakes as sheer terror builds up inside of her, clogging thick in her chest.

In a swift motion he pulls her up, one fist clenching her ponytail. She yells in pain, dangling in the air.

He stares at her, her face whitened and her limbs flailing softly. The blood dribbling out of her mouth. Her abdomen courses with pain, it keeps her trapped in this terrible, anticipating moment.

"His blade hurt you?"

She freezes, the strain on her hair starting to ache. "Wh-"

"I asked you a question."

She stares into his terrifying gaze. "Yes," she whispers. "It did."

She is dropped, and she cries out as she hits the ground.

"How?" He crouches over her, his hands resting on his hips. "You're a weapon, when you're in your form you're safe. You're supposed to be safe."

She is surprised, but still terrified. "I'm sorry..."

Safe. She's never safe anymore, not with him, at least. Why does he care if she's hurting? She'll heal, as she always does. Who cares if scars are left or the pain never truly fades? When has he ever cared about her pain?

"We can't have you getting hurt when you're in your weapon form," he says quietly. "I can't kill your brother if you're vulnerable."

He pulls her to her feet, his grip tight but his motions careful and thought out. "Can you walk back?"

She stares at him, confused. She sways a bit on her feet, grasping his arm. "Yes," she mutters. "Yes sir, I can."

He nods, turning away and jogging down the mountain. She follows him, pain flaring with every step.

He stops. "Transform."

"What?"

"Transform."

She has learned not to disobey. She switches a bit painfully into two scythes connected by a chain, landing in his hands.

“Stay,” he orders. “When we get home, you’ll rest.”

“So, you’re carrying me back?”

“You’re hurt and we have to hurry,” he answers, starting to jog.

His soul has shriveled a bit, all the rage slowly dribbling out. She presses against it, slipping her soul into his. She feels his burst of shock, but no anger is there. So she continues, comforting and cooling.

"Tsubaki?"

She freezes. "Yes sir? Should I stop?"

He stops walking, bringing her chain up and draping it over it over his arms. His grip grows gentler, and starts to walk again. "No," he whispers. "Just don't tell my father."

She answers by opening up to him, just a keyhole, letting terror and anger show. She draws him to it, and he comes a bit cautiously. She shows him the greedy flames, lets him feel her brother's sweaty palm and the underbrush scratching her legs. She shows him the hungry eyes and the blood stained hair.

He needs to know exactly why she'd never tell his father anything.

Before she realizes it, images and emotions flood out. Cold chains rubbing her wrists, sweat rolling down her back, and all the pain. The pain of his touches, the pain aching in her head. The white road, the clayish dirt bleaching her brother's knees. His form slowly growing smaller.

She closes herself, shying away from him. She rearranges herself, trying to hide and stay calm.

"Tsubaki, come back."

She shifts into a human, staring nervously at him.

"The night they took you," he says quietly, his eyes not meeting hers.

She nods, her hands shaking. "I didn't mean to show you so much."

"I'm glad you did."

She looks up at him, unsure how to answer.

"Your home was burnt?"

"To ashes, I suspect."

"And they separated the two of you?"

"You knew about that."

He stares at her with something different from before. "You were so afraid...why were you so afraid?"

Before she can stop herself, she's sneering at him. "Why was I afraid?" she snarls. "Why was I afraid?! My home was fire fuel! My family was probably dead, I was being dragged off and hurt by a raging murderous lunatic, and I knew exactly what you would make me do! I knew how...how terrible it would be and that you would hurt and abuse me!"

He gapes at her as she shakes with fury, glaring at him. She slowly moves her gaze to the ground, fear dripping into her. It doesn't matter that she was right; he'll still make her pay for raising her voice and her insubordination.

He seems as if he doesn't know himself for a second. He shuffles his stance, and she's about to apologize when he slaps her.

It stings, but she doesn't flinch. She looks up at him, shaking in equal fear and rage.

"You mustn't disrespect me," he mutters, turning and continuing down the path.

She follows, and they don't speak on the way back.

* * *

Every year, apparently, the StarClan throws a big party to celebrate themselves and consume enough food to feed an entire village for the winter. It also serves as an annual reminder that yes, they can drink so much they pass out.

It’s customary for weapons to come, mostly for bragging opportunities. Tsubaki has always disliked parties, and she detests the StarClan, so the thought of combining the two sends waves of panic rippling through her.

BlackStar, however, is ecstatic.

“I’ve never had a weapon to show off before!” he explains brightly as he leads her towards the festivities. “There’ll be a ton of food, and booze, and duels! And you can meet some of the other weapons.”

She doesn’t reply because he wouldn’t listen if she did.

“And tonight, we’ll have fireworks! And a big bonfire, oh, and souls.” He grins mischievously. “You can’t have any of those, though.”

She nods, looking past him. She gasps as she sees what’s ahead.

A huge table, big enough to fit dozens, is set out on the grass. Food is piled onto it, more food than she’s ever seen in her life. Meats spread over beds of rice, vegetables swimming in oceans of soup, loaves of bread stacked into small mountains.

He beams at her. “You can take as much as you like,” he assures. “It’s a special day. Just don’t speak to anyone unless they talk to you first.”

He takes her wrist and charges down the hill. She stumbles, and he pulls her back up. He laughs, a sharp, yet joyful sound, and the sound of it causes a smile to spread across her face. Her knees sting with grass stains, but right now it doesn’t matter. She lets go of his hand and they race. He speeds past her, stopping and grabbing a tree to slow down.

She grabs the tree too, letting her breathing slow to a normal rate.

“I win,” he says, beaming at her.

“Of course,” she gasps. “I didn’t have much of a chance.”

He seems to be bothered by that comment. He takes her wrist, very gently, and leads her into the thick of the party.

She thought BlackStar had impressive muscles, but his triceps are nothing compared to some of his relatives’.

As they look down at her, she finds herself pressing closer to her meister.

“BlackStar!”

They turn in a singular motion toward the call.

Tsubaki hears BlackStar swear under his breath. “This guy’s a kiss-ass,” he whispers to her. “And a real dick. My second cousin, Tanaqa.”

He stops whispering as Tanaqa approaches. He’s much taller than BlackStar, and his hair is dark. His face is twisted with scars.

“So this is the weapon you’ve been bragging about?”

“Yep, she’s all mine,” BlackStar boasts, resting a hand on her shoulder.

“A shadow weapon, correct?”

“Yep! She’s got a ton of different modes.”

“Pretty little thing.”

Tanaqa steps forward, reaching for her cheek. She flinches away.

“Hey,” he growls angrily, raising a hand to strike her. “What’re you doing? I ain’t good enough for ya’? Bitch.”

She shuts her eyes, but the blow never comes. When she opens her eyes, she sees BlackStar clutching Tanaqa’s wrist.

“Don’t touch her,” BlackStar hisses. “She’s mine.”

He glares at BlackStar. “She disobeyed-”

“She’s my weapon. I dislike the idea of anyone else touching her. Especially without my permission.”

He sneers at BlackStar before ripping his wrist out of BlackStar’s grip. “Of course, you are right,” he hisses. “Good day, my prince. It’s been a pleasure.” Venom drips from every syllable.

As he walks away, BlackStar winks at Tsubaki.

“Sorry ‘bout that,” he whispers. “Figured I’d protect you from being groped all day. There’s a ton of creeps in my Clan.”

She nods. “Thank you, that’s very kind,” she replies in a rehearsed tone. She appreciates the gesture, but dislikes the meaning behind it. He’s being much too friendly, and she knows his kindness will have a price later.

“Aww, lighten up,” he says, starting to walk away. “We get to have fun today. Don’t you know how to have fun?”

 

Yes, she does. Or, she thinks she does. Tearing through the woods with her brother, playing house in the shed, helping her mother mold Onigiri and munching on extra bits of pickled carrots.

Though now, she’d give anything just to feel safe. Or see her father, or be free. Having fun doesn’t seem to matter at all.

“I used to,” she replies quietly.

He glances at her, an unreadable emotion swirling in his eyes.

“Well, you and me...we’ll have fun today. I promise.”

As they walk towards the food, his warm, callused fingers brush against hers. She knows it is no accident.

But the gesture, however, was so pure and kind…

She misses comfort like that.

So when his fingers brush hers again, she slips her hand into his. He gives it a squeeze, his thumb rubbing comforting circles over her knuckles.

She glances over at him, and he grins cheekily at her.

She smiles shyly back.

And then they look away, and for one afternoon they are just two people, enjoying the sunshine.

Just for one afternoon, she tells herself.


	6. Chapter 5

She is shaken awake in the hours one is unsure whether to call morning or night. The sun appears to have no opinion on the matter, leaving it up to the sky, which has painted itself gray.

Truthfully, she is already awake. Shouts had woken her, and she never sleeps well anymore, anyway.

Though, she still jumps when rough, familiar hands seize her. She screeches and jumps, scrambling away and falling onto the hard, damp floor.

"Shh. It's just me, calm your tits."

It takes half a minute of ragged breathing and thinking to realize that it is, in fact, just him. BlackStar stands in the doorframe, his features unrecognizable in the dark.

"But...guards?" she asks, quickly jumping to her feet. She wipes her muddy hands on her skirt.

"You're my weapon," he says with a bit too much pride. "I can come and get you if I want. Anyway, we got serious shit to do. You aren't gonna like it. Transform and don't ask questions."

She stares at him for a bit, still in the haze of sleep, before shifting into a ninja sword. It's his favorite form to carry, as he told her so during training.

"Light as a feather," he boasted. "Even in your human form, I betcha don't go over a hundred pounds."

She weighs a hundred and fifteen, but he doesn't know. He doesn't care.

They run out of the palace and down a long, lonely road. He never travels by horseback, she's noticed. She wonders why, but it's not worth the risk of asking.

He is impressive. She's never doubted this. His strength triumphs any fighter she's known (except for WhiteStar, of course); his skill, though partially genetic, is breathtaking. He moves with purpose, he kills with furiousity. A small part of her, one she's buried deep inside, envies him. She tells herself it's his freedom. She says she envies his freedom, but everytime he blocks a blow with merely a second's notice, pride jolts in her. As if she's happy she belongs to him.

It disgusts her.

Most of her.

* * *

He runs towards a village. He runs as if the path behind them is on fire.

"We gotta get there real quick," he explains to her, “or else he might be gone. Just promise you'll do what I say. No matter what. This is going to be dangerous, even for a great Star like me."

She's too surprised to be worried. He's acting like a completely different person. "Yes sir," she replies. "No matter what."

What is this task? Robbing from winter storehouses? Burning farmland? Slaughtering children? She cannot stop her mind from wandering to the worst possibilities.

When they arrive, the first thing she senses is the panic. She senses the panicked souls before she hears the screams or sees the fire. Waves of hatred for such meaningless destruction overcome her.

"Stay in your weapon form," he says, his voice jolting her out of her thoughts. "Unless I tell you to run. Then you run into the woods. You leave me, and you never return to the StarClan. Do you understand?"

He says it as if leaving him behind to die would be hard. As if running wouldn't bring her unimaginable freedom. As if she wouldn't leave him and the StarClan right now if she could.

"Yes," she breathes.

Then she feels something incredibly strong, twisted and laced with confusion and fury. She realizes it's a soul, and as BlackStar steps closer, she knows it is what they are here to stop.

Is it a rebellious StarClan member? Is that why he's so afraid? Or is it an ancient enemy of theirs? A demon escaped from its prison? Its soul is loud and terrifying. It screams despair, it lashes out at everything and everyone it can to try to escape from the madness consuming it.

He enters the village, hurrying up a street to approach the creature. She pushes to the edge of her soul room so she can see it, but...

A man stands in the middle of the street, surrounded by corpses and splattered blood. A dark sword is in his hand, crackling with purplish energy. When he turns to face them, his eyes are wide and bloodshot. She knows him, but she doesn't know him, not anymore. Before BlackStar can tell her to stay quiet she screams for him.

"Masamune! MASAMUNE! Brother, big brother it's me! It's your sister, it's Tsubaki! Come back to me!"

His expression is unchanged. He stares at BlackStar venomously. "StarClan," he hisses with such anger, such utter detestment, that she draws away in fear.

"Stay in your weapon form," BlackStar orders, though his tone is softer than she’d assumed it would be. "He isn't your brother anymore. He's a demon."

"You're a demon!" she shrieks. "Y-you! And your family! No one's killing you! He's my brother! He's all I have left in this damn world! You! You took the rest from me!"

She didn't mean to shift into her human form, but she did. She is taller than BlackStar, though she's never felt superior to him until now. "No! I won't do it! I won't kill him!"

"Look at all he's done! Tsubaki, I'm...I'm your family now! He's insane!"

"NO!" she screeches. "I will never be yours! How can you consider us family?! You beat me! You starve me! You lock me underground in a dark, cold room and let guards do whatever they want to me! You destroy everything you touch! The moment you touched me was the moment I lost all of my dignity! No one's crimes can ever match yours! You filthy...you filthy StarClan!"

He stares at her. There is no anger on his face, just shock. And...that isn't hurt, is it?

"I thought we were friends," he mumbles.

"Friends? FRIENDS?!" she roars.

"I'm sorry for all that! I...I'm different when I'm with you! I feel...better. Less angry...and I think you're...a...a really good weapon, but we've got to do this. Tsubaki, he can't come back from this. You know that!"

"You...you came back! You're...you were a demon but you can...you can still think and...if he just sees me! Let me talk to him! You have to let me talk to him!" she begs.

"He'll just kill you!" BlackStar argues. "Tsubaki, he's gone! His body is just a shell for a demon!"

She charges past him. "Masamune! Brother!" she screams.

Masamune, who has been watching them curiously, turns to look into her face. His expression  
softens, only a tick. "You..."

"I'm your sister! I'm Tsubaki!" she screams.

He raises his sword, and she steps back.

"No! Brother!"

"I am hungry," he hisses. "Therefore, I eat."

"Tsubaki!" BlackStar yells. "TSUBAKI!"

Her brother's sword is high in the air above her, and she thinks she's still screaming and then BlackStar's rough hands are pulling her backwards. She kicks and struggles and gasps as the sword strikes the dirt in front of her. Everything inside her wants to die, because this can't be her brother; her brother would never look at her with that...greedy expression on his face. He doesn't understand what he's doing, because he's worse than the enemy he wanted to defeat.

She doesn't want this. She doesn't want to kill him.

"Transform!" BlackStar screams. "Tsubaki! I need you! Transform!"

She looks at the corpses. Piles of them, throats and chests ripped open. She sees the blood rubbed on his hands and splattered on his sword. She sees the darkness staining his once beautiful sword. She knows, she knows so much. He's gone. Even if he came back, he'd never forgive himself.

She shifts into her chain scythe, and BlackStar catches her.

The battle lasts for a few minutes. Masamune could never beat BlackStar, not when he is so fueled and focused. Her blade sinks into his chest, and she feels the warmth of his flesh. She feels the beating muscles of his heart tear in two.

He fades into a purple soul, and she shifts into her human form. She collapses to her knees, numb with horror as she stares at what used to be her brother.

BlackStar steps past her, picking the soul up. He holds it gently in his arms, and before she realizes it, he's set it in her palms. She gasps and stares up him, pulling the soul close to her chest. It smells like Masamune, feels like Masamune. She doesn't speak because if she does, she will shatter into sobs.

"It's yours," he mutters. He kneels down before her, placing his hand on her shoulder. She flinches violently, and he removes it. "We've accomplished our mission, Tsubaki."

He stands up when she doesn't reply. "Tell me when you need something. I'll get it for you."

He disappears from view but his footsteps stop. He's waiting for her.

She hugs her brother's soul close, hugging it to her chest. She lets herself be comforted by this memory of his presence. Then, before she can think twice, she opens her mouth wide and swallows him whole.

He slides down her throat. Souls are surprisingly warm. She gasps as the warmth settles and dissolves in her stomach, sending tingling energy through her.

She stands up and turns towards him. He smiles at her, and she feels fury bubble inside her gut.

“Souls taste good, don’t they?” he says eagerly. “And they make you feel like you could run a mile! You can have more if ya’ want.”

When he sees the expression on her face, his smile fades. At least he seems to know what he’s done wrong.

“That demon-”

“My brother,” she seethes. “You did that to him. You took him away from me.”

“Oh come on! Tsubaki, that wasn’t my fault!”

“You didn’t do a damn thing to stop it!”

“I didn’t even know you!”

“It doesn’t matter! The things you...your family does, are inhuman! I don’t...I don’t like you!”

“Because of my family?!” he roars in reply. “That’s not fair!”

“Because of you!” she snarls in return. She thinks she’s crying, but she honestly can’t tell. “Because of....everything! You abused me! You burned and destroyed villages!”

“Your brother did the same!”

The rage inside of her is so wild it can’t be contained. He’s saying all of the wrong things at the wrong time, and she just wants to slap him. She wants to show him what it feels like to be regarded as a tool. She wants to strike him until he bleeds.

She’s better than him, though, so she doesn’t. She turns away, walking subconsciously towards the StarClan’s home. She wants to be sad about Masamune, but she can’t find the emotion inside of her. He’d always been dead to her. Ever since he was ripped away from her on the wagon.

“Tsubaki! Stop!”

She doesn’t stop. Even when he catches up to her, she doesn’t stop.

She walks the whole way home.


	7. Chapter 6

“Get your stuff.”

BlackStar stands in the doorframe. It’s mid morning; she wonders what took him so long. Usually he wakes her up at dawn.

She guesses he let her sleep in; probably because of last night. They hadn’t gotten home late, but she knew he saw the cracks inside of her widening.

Masamune is dead. Her strong, kind, brave older brother is dead. She guesses he’s been gone for a long time, but now the tiny spark of hope she’s been holding onto for months has vanished.

There’s no way BlackStar understands how devastated she is, but he tries to help. She appreciates the effort more than she lets on.

“Make sure you get all of it, Tsu. You won’t be coming back here.”

At these words, she stands up. “What do you mean?”

“I gotcha a proper room. It’s right by the gardens, and a hell of a lot more comfortable.”

A clump of tension in her chest seems to loosen.

“Thank you, I appreciate it.”

He shifts awkwardly. “Well, uh, come on then!”

She picks up the few possessions she’s collected. All of them are gifts from BlackStar, including his battered old history textbook and a strip of leather for her hair.

He takes her free hand very gently, leading her up into the sunshine. She blinks as her eyes get used to the light.

“Let’s hang out in the gardens for a bit, first,” BlackStar says casually.

“If that’s what you wish-”

“Cut the bullshit, Tsubaki. I know you don’t respect me,” he snaps a bit hostily. As he sees her flinch, his expression softens and he looks away. “I’m not going to hurt you if you speak your mind, okay? I’ll never hurt you again.”

She freezes, turning and staring at him. “F-fine,” she stutters. “I’ll cut the shit.”

He glances over at her. “So, do you wanna go and hang out in the gardens?”

“I would love to.”

“You ain’t lying?”

“No. I’ve never seen your gardens, and I would like to.”

He grumbles. “Good.”

As they step into the gardens, Tsubaki can’t stop a large grin from spreading across her face. Despite the StarClan’s...cruel demeanor, their gardens are lovely and tranquil.

BlackStar leads her past flower beds bursting with color and over small, fading bridges. He guides her to a bench beneath a Japanese maple.

“We gotta talk,” he mumbles as he sits down. She quickly does the same. “We’re supposed to work together-”

“Has my performance been inadequate?” she asks, a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

“You know that’s not the issue.” He leans back, stretching. “You’re a damn goddess.”

“BlackStar, this seems like your problem, not ours.”

He looks over at her. “Hmm?”

“I’ve always detested killing and pillaging. Just because you’re only realizing how terrible the things you’ve done are now doesn’t mean I’ve been clueless all this time. I’m used to the fear and hardship of the life you threw me into.”

“You don’t have to be scared anymore, though!” he snaps. “I won’t hurt you again!”

“Your family might. BlackStar, you seem to have forgotten that I’d leave here right now if I could.”

He’s hurt by this, and a long silence hangs in the air afterwards. He shifts away from her.

“I understand why,” he replies carefully. “Maybe...maybe this place is a bit screwed up.”

“A bit?”

“Look, I’m just-” He scratches the back of his head. “I just don’t know.”

“Let me know when you figure it out.”

He sighs, glancing over at her. The corner of his mouth twitches up. “Yeah, I will,” he promises.

They sit in silence for a long while again. Tsubaki gazes at the flowers tipping and bowing with bees and listens to the giddy flowing of a miniscule brook. She relaxes against the bench, picking at the soft, molding wood.

“So, are we cool?”

“Hmm?”

“Are you still pissed at me for all the shit I did?”

“No, I’m not angry with you anymore.”

“Good.”

The silence returns for another few moments.

“You’re not forgiven, though,” she says quietly. “I’ll never forgive you for those things.”

He leans forward, propping up his forehead in his palms.

“I’m really sorry, Tsubaki. I’m so sorry for what I did, you’ve got no clue. I get mad at myself just thinking about it, c-cause you’re a really cool weapon and person and stuff…”

She notices scattered bruises and scabbed cuts on his forearms.

“I know you are.”

“And you sh-shouldn’t forgive me, Tsu. But I...I won’t do any of it again. I swear, I’ll make sure no one hurts you ever again. I...I’ll leave the StarClan before I let someone hurt you.”

His words are so true, she can see it in his eyes, feel it in the hand tightly grasping hers.

“I trust you,” she murmurs.

He leans forward, his fingers searching the ground. He sits up, a camellia blossom in his hand. The petals are loose and browning at the edges. He sets it down in her palm, looking up at her.

"Guess it didn't fall to pieces."

She closes her hand gently around the flower, barely touching the petals. She smiles at him.

"Guess not."

* * *

 

Tsubaki thoroughly enjoys the new lifestyle and partnership she and BlackStar have developed.

She wakes up when she wants to, eats when she wants to, and walks around the gardens when she wants to. She’s trusted not to try and run off. To be honest, she probably would run off, if it wasn’t for the colossal walls and regular guard patrols, but she keeps this information to herself.

It isn’t entirely their defenses, though, that keep her tethered to this place.

Despite all the fear and devastation he’s spread, despite the pain and terror he caused her, Tsubaki can’t leave BlackStar behind; he has the ability to change everything.

She knows her father would be proud of all she’s done. She endured, she stayed strong, she beat an impossible game.

She probably could sit back and let BlackStar do the rest on his own (she certainly managed to plant seeds of doubt in his mind, and they're growing like weeds), but, unfortunately, his transformation has not only been noticed by her.

As she lays on the floor, her belly happily pressed against the warm wood, she hears footsteps approaching. She bolts up, spinning around and staring into the commanding face of BlackStar's father, WhiteStar.

He's just as horrifying as she remembers, with eyes empty of any emotion other than greed and anger. He towers above her, and she scrambles to her feet, quickly bowing.

He grunts in satisfaction, and as her eyes meet his once more, he begins to speak.

"How our little Camellia has bloomed," he grumbles. "A room in our manor, and everything."

Thankfully, she knows how to be excessively polite.

"I am most grateful," she says sweetly.

"As you should be. This is an honor bestowed only to the strongest weapons of our clan. BlackStar worked hard to get you these niceties." He gestured to the room around him. "Many doubted your worthiness."

His eyes stare into hers, a terrifying glint inside of them. Swallowing down panic jolting up inside of her, she smiles as best she can.

"Yes, he may overestimate my abilities."

"A dangerous habit," WhiteStar hisses in reply. "He's been picking up plenty of those. I was wondering if you could help him shake them off."

"If I may ask," she says delicately, "what are these habits, my lord?"

She is perfectly aware of which "habits" he's talking about, and WhiteStar knows she is. WhiteStar knows where his son picked up those dangerous habits, and this puts her in a sticky position. If she can not convince him she is an asset in his battle to squash the light out of his son, she'll be considered a threat. And she knows precisely what WhiteStar does to threats.

WhiteStar closes the distance between them. She can smell his stinking breath, see the dark pores on his nose. "He's having...new ideas. But, of course, you're aware of this."

She frowns. "I'm sorry my Lord, I don't know what you're talking about."

"He asked me why I set fire to your home."

Surprise rises inside of her the way ice expands. "I'm very sorry if I spoke about things I shouldn't have-"

"He wanted to know why I took you. Why I separated you from your brother. Why weapons are locked up."

Tsubaki can't excuse this. She can't pretend. Why did BlackStar tell him so much? Did he think WhiteStar would just leave her alone after receiving questions like that?

"Perhaps he was curious about my clan-"

"He's becoming too curious. Much too curious. We've done things the same way year after year for a reason. Usually I wouldn't mind a member of my clan wanting to mix things up, but not my son. Because when I pass leadership of this clan onto him, I want things to stay the same."

"Isn't some change good?"

He is silent for a long time. The tension grows until she wants to swat it out of the air, but if she moves, she'll crack.

"Not the change the two of you desire."

She bites her lip tightly.

"Weapons are in no place to have opinions about the way we do things. You may be BlackStar's, but I can punish you if I wish. He obviously has failed at gaining your respect."

Tsubaki shakes her head vigorously, because he is wrong. He is very wrong. She respects BlackStar more than she'd like to admit.

"I assure you, I respect him greatly."

WhiteStar laughs-a sharp, haunting sound. "Bravo, little puppet. You gave an impressive performance. But let's get serious."

He seizes her wrists and lifts her against the wall. His grip is tight but not painful. She twists in fury, glaring at him.

"It actually doesn't matter if you respect him. The important thing is the overwhelming amount of respect he has for you. For your abilities, for your personality, for your strength."

WhiteStar leans closer to Tsubaki's face. "He sees you as an equal. And that is a very dangerous thought indeed."

As she plans a witty retort, the door slides open.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

WhiteStar is knocked off her in a whirlwind of blue, and she scrambles backwards as soon as she hits the floor.

BlackStar stands in front of her, breathing heavily. "What did you do to her?" he growls.

WhiteStar is up on his feet in a split second. He towers over BlackStar, but Tsubaki knows that size has little to do with BlackStar's power. Every single one of his muscles is tensed, and his hands are curled into fists. His anger is enough to strike fear in her, as it would in any sane person.

"Insolent boy," WhiteStar seethes. "She was my gift to you. I can take her away if I see fit, punish her if I see fit. Now get out of my way."

"What did she do wrong?" BlackStar snapped.

"It's none of your concern."

"She's my damn weapon, it's perfectly my concern! Now tell me, what the hell's she supposed to have done wrong?!"

WhiteStar lunges at BlackStar, but he jumps back, easily dodging his father.

"I'm taking her back, boy. She's too weak for you."

"That's a lie!" BlackStar screeches. "You're taking her to control me!"

"It's your fault for growing attached to it!"

BlackStar's entire demeanor changes. His jaw tightens, his eyes darken, though only a little bit.

"Tsubaki isn't an ‘it’. She's a person," he hisses dangerously. "And she's my friend. I'll kill anyone who tries to control her, or harm her."

WhiteStar stops his advances, glaring down at BlackStar. "I see."

Tsubaki stands up, stepping closer to BlackStar and resting a hand on his shoulder to calm him.

"Don't go near her," BlackStar snarls, resting a hand on hers.

WhiteStar looks suspiciously at the two of them. "Hmm. Well, I guess if you're in the way, I've got no chance,” he sneered sarcastically.

BlackStar doesn’t reply, nor does he break eye contact with his father.

WhiteStar steps back and turns to leave the room. "To love a delicate thing," he mutters, “is to curse yourself to endless suffering."

He doesn't shut the door when he leaves.


	8. Chapter 7

Rough hands seize her arms and grasp at her shoulders. They pull her backwards, off her futon and across the hard, wood floor. 

When she screams, the sound is muffled by a cloth in her mouth. When she flails, she is struck and her hands are bound. Before she can transform, she is marked with a strange tattoo that blocks her weapon abilities the way her first cell did. 

Confusion clouds her thoughts as she is dragged out of her room and across the lawn. She can see the StarClan's tattoo on the shoulders of her captors, but BlackStar isn't among them. 

Why was he so stupid? She'd be lying if she said she hadn't expected this. He's so...so clueless sometimes. Did he actually trust his father to leave her alone? Did he think no one would realize who'd told him so many things? 

They throw her into the back of a wagon, and her shoulder scrapes painfully against the rough wood. She tries to escape, letting out another muffled scream, but the doors slam shut. 

She sits in stuffy darkness for a long moment before she hears yelling from outside. 

It's BlackStar, somehow, it's BlackStar. She can't make out what he's saying exactly, but she can tell he's thoroughly pissed. 

There's a lot of ruckus with the doors. At first they wiggle as if they're about to open, but then they slam and stay pressed in, as if someone's pushing against them. 

All of a sudden, one of the walls is blown open. Bits of wood spray her face and side, and she coughs from the dust. 

"Come on!" BlackStar calls, clearly visible despite the wood shavings and smoke. "We gotta hurry, Nakatsukasa!" 

She slides out of the opening, spitting out the cloth. "What's happening?"

He tries to explain, but another man grabs him before he can.

"These were orders!" the man roars. "From your father! You can't just bust her out!"

"Get off me, get off!" he shouts, roughly pulling free. Electricity crackles in his palm. "She's my weapon, mine! I don't give a damn what WhiteStar says! You can't take her!" 

More men appear, a few grabbing Tsubaki while the rest try to subdue BlackStar, ignoring his protests. They start to drag Tsubaki away and she twists, biting one of their hands until she tastes blood and is released. 

The freedom is strange, yet exhilarating. She sprints for the fortress’ walls, high on adrenaline. She barely notices how frigid the air is. All she cares about is getting away, she can finally get away, the gate is right there...right there...

"Tsubaki! Wait!" BlackStar calls. She can hear him running towards her, along with the guards. "You won't be able to get out on your own! You know that, Tsubaki! We'll leave together! Just transform; transform and I'll take you away from here!"

She skids to a halt, a hand reaching to rub away the ink preventing her from shifting. She doesn't have much time to think, but she trusts him, and having an ally decreases the odds of things going horribly wrong. The guards are still several yards away, but BlackStar is closer, mere footsteps away from her. 

"We'll find your family. We'll...we'll fix all this," he promises, stepping close enough to grab her, if he wishes. "Just transform. I'll kick all their asses." 

She nods. "Together," she agrees. “Together, we’ll kick all their asses.”

He takes her bound wrists and manages to undo the knot. The guards are practically on top of them now, but the ink won't rub off. BlackStar realizes what she's doing and starts to rub it too, spitting on his fingers to try and smear it.

"We have to keep running," she says, nudging him. "BlackStar! They're coming! We have to keep running!"

He is completely focused on the tattoo. 

"These are fucking permanent if you don't smear 'em in time, Tsubaki," he growls. "It's not...working!" 

Tsubaki gives up trying to convince him and takes his wrist, dragging him away from their pursuers. More guards are coming, and they don't have time-

"What the hell is going on?"

Everything seems to stop. The guards all freeze and turn around. Tsubaki stops running. BlackStar even stops trying to wreck the tattoo. He growls in fury, locking eyes with his father. 

"Well, it appears this little effort failed," WhiteStar grumbles, pushing past all the guards. Tsubaki scrambles back, dragging BlackStar with her.

"We have to go," she hisses. 

"We can't," BlackStar mutters. "We can't outrun him, or all these guards. We have to fight."

"I can't transform."

"Then I'll beat him on my own," BlackStar says, pushing her behind him protectively and clenching his fists. 

"That's stupid, you can't win without a weapon!" she snaps. 

"I can do this!"

WhiteStar sniggers, drawing a sword from his hip. "Well, you can try. Might as well get used to it. That seal'll block her abilities up for good. Then she'll be useless. Hopefully we can rip a few of her forms out before she dies."

"Like I'll let you do that!" BlackStar roars, charging at his father. "Tsubaki, you gotta get rid of it!" 

As they began to fight, sword versus wavelength, father versus son, she wonders how to get rid of the tattoo. As she begins to wash at it with spit again, she glances down. A broken arrowhead lies in the dirt, one edge still razor sharp. She picks it up, her fingers shaking.

Breaking the tattoo would work better than smearing, right? 

She rests the edge against her skin, steadying and prepping herself to make the cut. A cut, that's it, it's just a cut. 

As she starts to slice away at her skin, she can't hold in a hiss of pain. It hurts so badly, her whole shoulder aches and burns with agony, and each cut sharpens the pain. Blood slicks her fingers, but she's almost done. 

Like peach skin. Just pretend you're taking the skin off a peach, she thinks to herself. 

She makes the final cut, and, gasping, throws the scrap of her skin aside and covers up the bleeding patch of exposed flesh with her hand. 

"B-BlackStar!" she shouts. "I got rid of it!" 

He's engaged in such a fierce battle with WhiteStar, she doubts he heard her. She runs towards them, screaming again for BlackStar. It doesn't matter how powerful he is; he cannot win against WhiteStar without a weapon. 

BlackStar nearly crashes into her as his father throws him backwards. He scrambles back to his feet, wiping blood out of his eyes.

"Tsubaki," he grunts, “it'd be a real fucking treat if you transformed right about now."

"Yes sir," she replies quickly, and in a flash of light, she's resting in his hands. 

"Perfect," he exclaims, gripping the scythes tighter. 

The next thing she knows, they're in the thick of battle, and she's striking and protecting and being drawn back and swung forward all in one moment. 

Cackles echo through the night. Tsubaki looks out of her blade to see WhiteStar, completely unscathed. 

All those attacks...they did nothing?!

"This has been a fun playdate," he snarls. "But the fight ends here. I don't want to kill you, son. But she has to go."

"I have an idea," Tsubaki whispers to BlackStar. "Send me your wavelengths." 

"Why?" he hisses. 

"Trust me!"

He sends them, waves of very soul, waves that once overflowed with anger and greed. Now, they are simply power, raw power. She pulls them into herself, and returns them with even more power. 

"What the hell?" WhiteStar growls as he watches BlackStar’s soul swell with new energy. 

"Resonance," Tsubaki murmurs. "BlackStar, help me." 

BlackStar moves his soul closer to hers, taking deep breaths and relaxing his shoulders. She comes closer as well, drawing on memories and letting her anger rise.

"What are you doing?" WhiteStar growls. "What the hell are you doing?!" 

In an instant, their souls become one. Tsubaki swears she felt a click. 

Raw power explodes, and BlackStar shouts in triumph. 

"Hell yeah! Tsubaki, I don't know what you did, you beautiful goddess, but I like it!"

"That's not all," she says. Shadows creep up her weapon form and seep into her soul. "I found something. Get ready."

Dark stripes spread onto his body as well. Her blade turns to darkness, and he gasps in surprise. 

"What the-"

It reforms in the shape of a sword; her brother's sword, the one the StarClan hunted so fervently. 

BlackStar cackles in triumph. "Goddammit, Tsubaki, I love you. You're the best weapon ever."

"Hurry," she snaps. "I can't hold this form for long, and it'll drain your wavelength!" 

“Got it,” he hisses, launching himself forward. He swings her up into the air, but WhiteStar blocks the blow. 

“It’s beautiful…” he mutters, the steel of the sword gleaming in his hungry eyes. “Beautiful. I want it...I want it!” 

He reaches out and grabs her blade. She cuts into him and blood wells up. It flows down his wrist and seeps out between his fingers, but he seems not to care. He tugs at her, laughing maniacally. 

“Want, want!” he growls. “I want it!” 

BlackStar suddenly gasps, his grip on her loosening. “I...I can’t hold you! Change back, Tsubaki, it’s draining my wavelength!” 

Just as she starts to change back, WhiteStar yanks her out of BlackStar’s hand. She shifts into a human, trying to tug herself free. 

“I’ll get it out of you,” he hisses. “I’ll rip it out. I’ll take it for myself. Stop struggling, girl! Stop it!” 

“Tsubaki!” BlackStar screams. “Smoke bomb!” 

It takes her a second to realize what he’s saying, but when she does, she shifts into a puff of smoke. WhiteStar roars in fury, grasping at the air. She reappears besides BlackStar, panting. 

WhiteStar’s eyes narrow and he jumps forward, his sword raised. “Come here!” he screams in fury. “Come back!” 

He moves so quickly, and she doesn't have time to think. His sword is so close to her, so close, it's slashing down-

There's a blur of blue, and then a soft grunt of pain. Her eyes open just in time to see BlackStar tumble to the ground, crimson spilling out of his chest. 

"Fuck!" WhiteStar screeches, swishing his sword to get the blood off. "You...you idiot! There's no way in hell she's worth it, you weak, cowardly..."

Everything inside Tsubaki is freezing, and she stares down at her meister. Her knees brush the ground, and she flips him over, staring wide-eyed at the rip in his chest.

"Ow..." he sputters, coughing blood up. It dribbles down his chin, landing on his throat. "B-but...you..."

She grasps his hand, feeling hot tears prick at the corners of her eyes. "Shh," she mutters, her fingers shaking as she repositions him, struggling to make him comfortable. "It's not bad. We'll f-fix this..."

She hears footsteps, and her head shoots up to glare at WhiteStar. 

"So you do care..." he mutters. "I had my doubts."

She wipes all the wetness from her face, standing up and stepping in front of him. "You're mine," she seethes. "I'll kill you. I'll kill you!"

A blade appears in her hand, and she shifts into a defensive stance. Her entire demeanor changes; her eyes narrow, her muscles tighten. 

"Mmm..." WhiteStar practically purrs, raising his sword as well. "Well, I can't pass up an opportunity like this. It'd just be too much fun, you see."

With a cry, she springs forward, blocking his sword with one hand. WIth the other she reaches for her ponytail-turned-chain-scythe and swings it at his exposed side.

He knocks her blade out of her hand with a twist of his sword, and deflects the scythe before it can do much damage. She manages to scratch him, though, and he hisses in pain.

The blade fades into golden dust, and reappears in her hand. She swings her chains, trying to tangle his legs, but he jumps up, slashing at her in the same second. 

She raises her blade to protect herself,but loses ground and stumbles backwards. 

WhiteStar is upon her; he raises his sword to stab her and she rolls out of the way. She lunges for his ankles and crashes into him. They tumble to the ground together. Tsubaki reaches for her scythe and just as he falls flat on his back, she brings it swinging down.

There's a crack as his bones shatter, and a scream of anguish. 

Tsubaki stands up, admiring her handiwork. Her scythe is buried in his shoulder. She yanks it out, and blood starts to pour out, thick and dark. 

"B-bitch!" he shrieks, trying to get to his feet. 

"I thought I was delicate," she sneers.

"G-guards! Guards, help!" 

She kneels beside him, pressing a blade against his throat. "Shh," she whispers. 

A second later, he is eternally still.


	9. Epilogue

Epilogue

* * *

  
It takes BlackStar weeks to recover. During those weeks, she doesn't leave his side, because if she did, his throat would be slit in an instant. The StarClan is one of assassins, after all, and many of his uncles and cousins would love to end him and take his place.

He's the only reason she isn't executed. As heir to the StarClan empire, his word is law now. Every time he woke up, he begged whomever was at his bedside to protect her, to leave her alone. He insisted over and over again, deliriously, that she be spared, helped, protected, set free. Her safety was the only rule the StarClan followed for weeks.

Which led to chaos even worse than before. More plundering, more murder. The clan fought within itself, and when BlackStar finally woke up for good, dozens of his family members were dead.

But he began to fix things.

He set free all those enslaved. He ended the devouring of innocent souls, he let villages work out their own governments, he sent food to those who needed it. He rebuilt all that his clan had turned to ash.

He also searched for the remnants of her family, but with little luck. They'd all fled, probably to lands ruled by the Shinigami. To places where weapons were seen as equals.

She knows they're alive, though. Her father, and mother, are out there, somewhere. She'll see them again.

* * *

"Tsu?"

She looks up from her book. "Hmm?"

"Look..." he sits down besides her, scratching the back of his neck nervously. "You don't have to stay here anymore. You can go home...if you want."

She sits up, shutting the book. "What do you mean?"

"You're free to go anywhere you want. If you wanna go and...and look for your parents, you should."

The offer isn’t as tempting as it ought to be. Travel is long, hard, and weary. She looks up at the boy in front of her, the wonderful, kind boy who’d been willing to give up everything for her. She doesn’t want to start all over again. She likes her life here. She likes her life with him in it, a development she never could’ve predicted.

"Thanks," she says, stretching. "But I don't want to. Not...not yet."

"Why?" he asks. "I mean...this place is just a nest of bad memories."

A few practically nasty memories surface, stirring up fresh feelings of helplessness and terror. It takes a moment or two to regain her bearings, but when she does, she stands up.

"Then let's burn it."

"What?"

"Your Clan burnt my home. Let's burn yours together,” she suggests casually. “I mean, it’s not like it’s useful anymore. The way your territory is spread out now, you’ll have to build a headquarters in a more central location.”

“Some of our more...tradition bound members won’t like it,” he says as he takes her hand with meticulous gentleness and leads her out into the garden.

“You’re their leader, aren’t you?” she asks. “By their own rules, they can’t question you.”

“Well...what about us?” he mutters, looking up at the sky. “What’re we gonna do for the rest of our lives?”

“We’re partners now, aren’t we?” she says matter-of-factly, pulling her hair out of its ponytail lazily. “We could travel around...work to spread some good. Maybe...find my parents, someday. Together.”

He nods, and they make all the arrangements, shouting down anyone who disagrees.

And later that night, they burn it under the stars. Together they watch the sparks shoot up and glow through the blackness, consuming all they are for a few seconds of flight.


End file.
